HOURHumanity's space debris is accumulating quickly. Low Earth orbit is now extremely crowded with satellites, which must constantly navigate a minefield of debris from past rocket launches, discarded equipment and previous collisions. Sometimes significant pieces of this detritus are even roll back to the ground. Various companies are working on ways to clean up the mess we have made locally. But a new effort aims to determine whether it's possible to move some of this debris to safety without even touching it.
ALBATOR project proposes using beams of charged electrons or ions to push space debris from a distance without having to make physical contact with the objects flying around the planet at speeds of about 17,500 miles per hour.
“Avoiding the risks associated with capture or docking, [ALBATOR] The project aims to provide a safer and more versatile solution to one of the biggest challenges facing space sustainability: the proliferation of debris in Earth's orbit,” NorthStar, one of the companies involved in the project, which is an academic and industry collaboration funded by the European Commission, said in a release statement. The effort aims to proof-of-concept and create a technology demonstration that would use an ion beam plasma system to move space debris without contact.
The only thing that is not clear in all this is where it is best to stuff all this space debris. To.
Some previously proposed removal systems involving contact with the debris suggested “de-orbiting” or returning it safely to Earth. On a case-by-case basis, large pieces can also be moved out of the way of intersecting satellites or the International Space Station.
Whatever the direction, it is clear that the rapidly growing problem of space debris must be solved soon. As new fleets of satellites are launched into orbit every week (and sometimes several times a week), the space above the Earth becomes increasingly crowded and dangerous.
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Main image: ALBATOR
